Export

Australia ships 384,891t of barley to China in February

Liz Wells, April 12, 2019

LATEST export data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows Australia shipped 357,358 tonnes of malting barley and 27,533t of feed barley to China in February.

The monthly total of 381, 891t is up marginally from 371,950t shipped to China in January, despite February holding the deadline for Australian barley exporters to lodge submissions to China’s anti-dumping case into the pricing of Australian barley.

Japan on 88,068t was Australia’s major destination for feed barley in February.

Australian sorghum exports in the three months to 28 February were confined to containerised shipments.

This reflects the chronic shortage of locally produced feedgrain in eastern Australia as a result of its drought, which has lifted its up-country prices to well above export parity.

The drought has precluded bulk barley exports from eastern states, and exports of current-crop Australian barley are being sourced mostly from Western Australia, with some also loading in South Australia.

CBH Group is WA’s bulk handler, and the state’s major grain exporter, and has confirmed shipments of Australian barley to China are continuing while the anti-dumping investigation is taking place.

“The Australian barley industry enjoys a long-term relationship with the Chinese market and is continuing to work with its customers,” a CBH spokesperson said.

MALTING

Dec

Jan

Feb

Tonnes

China

354405

338447

357358

1050210

Japan

0

21017

6180

27197

New Zealand

994

0

0

994

Thailand

0

0

196

196

Vietnam

5706

11192

12508

29405

TOTAL

361104

370656

376242

1108002

Table 1: ABS malting barley export data for December 2018 and January and February 2019.

FEED

Dec

Jan

Feb

Tonnes

China

535296

33503

27533

596332

Hong Kong

6

14

11

31

Indonesia

0

22

0

22

Japan

80050

0

88068

168118

Korea

414

301

930

1645

Macau

0

0

3

3

Malaysia

420

204

278

902

New Caledonia

15

0

15

30

Pakistan

0

0

243

243

Papua New Guinea

50

40

0

90

Philippines

247

188

465

900

Qatar

22000

0

0

22000

Taiwan

2960

4736

2112

9807

Thailand

1332

2497

3611

7439

UAE

11000

312

730

12043

Vietnam

1775

1860

2411

6046

TOTAL

655565

43676

126410

825651

Table 2: ABS feed barley export data for December 2018 and January and February 2019.

SORGHUM

Dec

Jan

Feb

Tonnes

Philippines

200

198

200

598

Taiwan

399

100

249

748

TOTAL

599

298

449

1346

Table 3: ABS sorghum export data for December 2018 and January and February 2019.